Playstation 4 Rumors: Will Sony's Next Generation Console Be Incompatible With Used Games?

A listing on the United States Trademark and Patent Office website has confirmed that Sony is working to develop a system which would allow the company to block the use of used/second-hand games on the Playstation 4 rumored to be in development at this time.

It's no secret that game developers and publishers aren't particularly big fans of the second-hand game market, and some have even compared it to theft or software piracy in the past. So it's not particularly surprising that companies would want to take steps to cut down on the practice, like Capcom did with their single-playthrough release of "Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D" for the Nintendo 3DS; however, locking software to consoles is unlikely to be popular with the gaming community.

Click HERE to see Sony's official patent application on the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office website

In fact, the idea seems rather counter-intuitive to decades of gaming tradition. Do console manufacturers really plan to force gamers to lug their consoles to/from a friend's house anytime they want to enjoy some local co-op or competitive action?

Of course, as Kotaku's Owen Good points out, the patent also clears the way for Sony to continue regulating the increasingly common "season pass" or "online pass" functionality found in games with loads of DLC and/or a heavy focus on multiplayer gaming. For example, the patented system would allow Sony to restrict access to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer servers or the recently announced "Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt" DLC for Borderlands 2.

The patent application was initially unearthed on the NeoGAF forums, and you can imagine how well the news was received on the popular gaming forum. If the NeoGAF users are any indication, the folks at Sony will certainly have a hard time marketing their new console to gamers. Parents aren't likely to be big fans of the change either, because many prefer to purchase the cheaper second-hand copies both for themselves and for their children.

Will you buy a Playstation 4 if Sony moves to block the use of second-hang games on the console?

LG has scheduled a global press event for April 28, expect to see the LG G4 and possibly the LG G4 Note, which will be LG's flagship offerings of 2015. The company will need to compete with the formidable Samsung Galaxy S6, HTC One M9, Sony Xperia Z4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

Developer Imageepoch, the team behind the Luminous Arc series for the original Nintendo DS, has an all new game on its to-do list: Stella Glow, a new J-RPG which will be exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS. It will be localized by Atlus U.S.A., Inc.